Form 56: Filing Your Fiduciary Notice with the IRS

What Is Form 56?

IRS Form 56, "Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship," officially tells the IRS that you are the authorized representative of an estate, trust, or other entity. When you file Form 56, the IRS knows to send tax notices and correspondence to you instead of the deceased person.

Without filing Form 56, important IRS notices — including tax bills, refund information, and audit letters — may go to the deceased's last known address, where they could be lost or ignored.

When to File Form 56

File Form 56 as soon as you are appointed as executor or administrator of the estate. Ideally, this happens within the first two weeks after obtaining your letters testamentary or letters of administration.

You should also file Form 56 when:

• You are appointed as trustee of a trust
• The fiduciary relationship is terminated (file a final Form 56 to end it)
• You are appointed as guardian or conservator managing someone's tax affairs

How to Fill Out Form 56

Section 1: Identification. Enter the deceased's name, Social Security number or EIN, and last known address. If the estate has its own EIN (from Form SS-4), enter that as well.

Section 2: Authority. Check the box that describes your role — executor, administrator, trustee, guardian, or other fiduciary. Enter the date you were appointed and the name of the court that appointed you.

Section 3: Tax notices. Specify which tax forms you want the IRS to send to you. For most estate executors, this includes Form 1040 (individual income tax), Form 1041 (estate income tax), and Form 706 (estate tax, if applicable).

Section 4: Fiduciary's address. Enter your name and mailing address. This is where the IRS will send all future correspondence.

Section 5: Signature. Sign and date the form.

Where to File

Mail the completed Form 56 to the IRS service center where the deceased filed their last tax return. The IRS instructions for Form 56 include a table matching states to service center addresses. There is no online filing option for Form 56.

Common Mistakes

Not filing at all. Many executors skip Form 56, only to discover months later that they missed critical IRS notices. This is the most common and most costly mistake.

Filing with the wrong taxpayer ID. Use the deceased's SSN if the estate does not yet have an EIN. Once you obtain the estate EIN, file an updated Form 56 with the EIN.

Forgetting to file a termination Form 56. When the estate is closed, file a new Form 56 checking the "termination" box. This tells the IRS to stop sending you correspondence about the estate.

Your Next Step

LastingPath's Form 56 wizard pre-fills the form with your estate's information and tells you exactly where to mail it based on your state. Start the Form 56 wizard to file your fiduciary notice in minutes.